But Persistence Might
by Aishwarya
Summary: Sequel to Sweet Talk Don't Win Me Over. In which Gibbs' reasons have reasons and Steve is protective and Kono and Sachs are confused. So is McGee.


**Note: **Well, I hope the sequel is everything you guys wanted! It's much shorter than the first fic but I think everything got tied up okay. Let me know if you disagree!  
Also, I have no beta but did read this over myself a few times. Any mistakes still left are my own.

* * *

To say that everyone was surprised was an understatement but, in hindsight, they really shouldn't have been. It was a long story and it went something like this.

Tony woke up to the feeling of hands shaping his ass. His very sore ass. So he grumbled a protest and burrowed further into Steve's embrace, unwilling to get up. Steve merely chuckled, his hands moving up to rest on Tony's waist as he placed a kiss on Tony's forehead before tightening his embrace. It was the best kind of wake up call, better even than sex because cuddling with Steve was an Experience. With the capital letter and everything.

Firstly, Steve had really large hands with callouses that did very interesting things to Tony's nerve endings. Also, in case it had escaped attention, Steve was pretty damned ripped and while Tony was no slouch, Steve redefined the phrase 'physical perfection'. He was all broad shoulders and strong arms and washboard abs and had a physique that, in summary, was kinda perfect for cuddling. Plus, Steve liked to be the one doing the holding and Tony really, really didn't mind being the little spoon. In fact, he pretty much demanded it and really, was it any surprise that he was a bossy bottom? If it was then you were probably thinking of a different Tony DiNozzo.

So the morning after they'd busted Grafton, Tony was blissfully content to lie in bed, imprisoned by tattoed skin over deliciously hard muscle, and doze. Steve's breaths were deep and even showing that even he was enjoying a rare lie-in and it was shaping up to be a pretty perfect morning.

Then there was a knock on the door.

Tony pretended he didn't hear it and resolutely kept his eyes closed, hoping that whoever it was would just go away. Steve shifted beneath him, obviously expecting Tony to be the one to wake up. Yeah, like that was going to happen. The knock came again and Tony pretended even harder not to hear it.

"You gonna get that?" Steve asked, poking Tony in the side.

"No, duh," Tony replied, automatically flinching away from the probe. "They'll go away eventually."

"What if it's your old team?"

"Then Ziva'll just pick the lock."

"Tony," Steve began in his I-totally-love-it-when-you-act-this-way-but-please-stop voice. "Don't make your friends break in. It'll damage the lock."

"But I'm comfortable," Tony complained, turning his head into the curve where Steve's neck met his shoulders.

"Then go tell them to come back later," Steve said, sliding effortlessly out from beneath Tony. "And we can spend the rest of the morning in bed."

Tony huffed and considered refusing on principle but eventually he heaved an overly exaggerated sigh of agreement and slid out of bed. He just barely remembered to pull on a pair of track pants (Steve fully encouraged Tony's habit of sleeping nude) and padded to the door, half-heartedly dragging a hand through his hair to push it into some semblance of order. As Tony could have predicted it was Abby, McGee and Ziva on the other side.

"Morning!" Abby beamed, bouncing on the soles of her feet.

Tony blinked, a frown of confusion wrinkling his brow. He was certain Abby was a lot taller yesterday. Then he glanced down and saw the black flip-flops with a skull adornment the size of a tennis ball on the thong. Ah, that would explain it then. No platforms.

"Can we come in?" Ziva prompted, arching her eyebrows in that way she had that suggested Tony was acting particularly stupid and Tony's frown deepened, a pout pulling at his lips.

"No," he replied. "Aren't you guys on vacation? Shouldn't you, like, be at the beach or something?"

"We thought you could show us around," McGee explained. "You said HPD was covering all your calls and you only had to work if a major case came up."

"That's true," Steve's voice came from right next to Tony's ear and he immediately leaned back into his lover, shifting into the touch when Steve wrapped an arm around his waist.

"How do you guys feel about hiking?"

Ziva and McGee turned their smiles on Steve and Tony saw Ziva rake a glance over Steve's shirtless chest and felt his own smile turn a little smug in response. His boyfriend was a fox. There was no disputing it. It was Abby's reaction, however, that was the most amusing.

"You two are together?" She squealed, clapping her hands. "That's so awesome! Tony why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?"

"Uh, it never came up?" Tony offered.

"Besides, they knew." He jerked a thumb in Ziva and McGee's direction. "I figured they'd tell you."

"You figured wrong," Abby scolded. "Now go get your swimming trunks. You can tell me all about how you two met on the way to the beach."

Tony sighed and internally mourned the lost hours in bed with Steve but dutifully went to do as he was told. Nobody argued with Abby when she was on a mission and even Steve didn't put up a fight, settling instead for pushing Tony against the wardrobe before they sank into a toe-curling kiss. Tony grinned as they parted for air, nipping playfully at Steve's jaw before pushing him away. They had already disappeared into the bedroom for too long and he wouldn't put it past Abby to barge in if they lingered a second longer.

"Aren't you afraid you're gonna tan?" Tony asked Abby as they piled into his car with Steve behind the wheel. It was a tight fit but Steve had driven Tony home last night so it was the only car they had.

"Nope," Abby's pigtails swung around her face as she shook her head. "I got factor 100 suncream."

"I didn't even know they made it that high," Tony blinked and Abby merely grinned in response.

Steve looked like he was going to comment, mostly likely something along the lines of proper skin care and how to choose the best factor suncream for your skin, so Tony quickly changed the subject. Drawing his friends into a conversation about what they wanted to do on their vacation. Before long they were arriving at Steve's house because really, private beach? Nobody was complaining. Ziva and Abby were openly curious as they piled out of the car and McGee tried not to stare but did a very poor job of it. Their expressions soon faded into smiles however as Steve led them out back before running upstairs to get his own swim trunks.

To Tony's surprise, Danny was already there with a little girl that Tony immediately guessed was Grace. He'd never met her but Danny talked about her often enough. Then Ziva was diving into the surf, becoming nothing more than a blob in the distance almost as quickly as Steve did and Abby was crouching next to Grace, taking her into the shallow parts of the sea under very careful parental supervision.

"So, how's the new book going?" Tony asked as he handed McGee a soda and they settled into seats.

"Okay I guess," McGee shrugged. "I'm having some problems with characterisation but I think the time away will help."

"Of course it will," Tony grinned. "This is Hawai'i, if you can't find inspiration here then it's time to lay down the pen McGeek."

"You mean like the sort of inspiration you found?" Tim raised both his eyebrows in challenge and jerked a thumb in the direction of the ocean where, by now, Steve had caught up to Ziva.

"No way, Abby'll kill us both," Tony shuddered and pulled a face. "I just mean that it'll do you good to loosen up some. You're way too tense lately."

"I guess we've all been a bit stressed lately," Tim conceded, his gaze drifting to the side as if unsure as to whether or not he should continue. Tony made the decision for him.

"I thought it would stop once I left," Tony confessed. "I thought I was the problem and that Gibbs would cool down without me there."

"He didn't," McGee sighed, his shoulders slumping. "How did you do it, Tony? How did you work with him for so long, just the two of you?"

"Gibbs was different back then," Tony replied. "I don't know what's gotten into him, Tim."

"But you still do it," McGee insisted. "During the case, you still didn't let him affect you. You still stood up to him."

"I don't report to Gibbs anymore," Tony pointed out. "What's the worst he can do to me? Lodge a complaint? You think Vance'll buy that?"

"Probably not," McGee conceded. "Still, I can't take much more of this Tony. If things don't improve, I'm gonna have to file for a transfer."

"He's really that bad?" Tony turned to fully face McGee. "All the time?"

"You have _no idea_," Tim snorted and the look on his face was uncharacteristically jaded that Tony did a double take. "It's like he's been replaced by a pod person."

Tony fell silent at that, a frown pulling at his brows. All this time Tony had been operating under the assumption that he'd been the cause of Gibbs attitude change. To find out that that wasn't true was startling and more than a little worrying because people didn't undergo drastic changes in their personality for no reason. Gibbs was a gruff, grouchy bastard but he was never cruel enough or bad enough to push even McGee into considering a transfer. McGee who had been dying for the opportunity to prove himself as Gibbs' SFA and whom Tony was sure would excel in such a role.

"You know, he didn't promote me when you left," McGee said, as if reading Tony's thoughts. "He even refuses to hire a replacement. I think Vance is a hairs breadth away from firing him."

"Tim," by now Tony was deeply troubled by what he was hearing. "Why didn't you guys say anything to me sooner?"

"What could we say?" Tim shrugged. "And what could you do? You know what Gibbs is like Tony. Nobody's going to find out anything he doesn't want known. And you're not even in DC anymore. How could you help?"

"You'd be surprised," Tony smiled to take the sting from his words. "You should have told me all this sooner, McGoo but thanks for bringing it to my attention now. And don't worry, we'll find out who's got Gibbs' balls in their fist. I promise."

"You think he's in trouble?" McGee frowned.

"I think," Tony said, slowly and deliberately, "that I'm only starting to see the bigger picture now. I'll do some digging and let you know what I find."

McGee was about to reply when the sound of laughter drifted up to them from near the water. In unison,Tim and Tony turned to find that Ziva and Steve had finished their swim and were wading up towards the shore. Abby was facing them, laughing and batting her eyelashes at Steve whilst, from their vantage point, Tony and Tim could clearly see Ziva checking out Steve's ass. Tony merely chuckled at the sight, lifting his glass for another drink.

"You don't mind?" McGee asked, his brows furrowing in confusion. "That they're flirting with your boyfriend?"

"Nope," Tony grinned at Tim. "Why would I mind? It's only to be expected."

"Seriously?" McGee snorted. "That's what you're going with? That it's okay because he's attractive?"

"C'mon McRepressed," Tony smirked. "Even you've gotta admit that my guy is more than just 'attractive'. We can barely walk down the street without someone ogling him. I'm totally used to it."

"And here I thought your first instinct would be that they were looking at _you_," McGee teased.

"While I am very good looking," Tony's voice was only a little smug, "there's good looking and then there's _that,_" he tilted his head to where Steve was now jogging towards the outdoor shower, muscles rippling and skin gleaming under the sun.

"Okay, point," McGee conceded and he regarded Tony for a moment before his expression turned serious.

"Is he...I mean, does he..." McGee stammered a bit, trying to voice his question before huffing and biting the metaphorical bullet.

"I hope he's good to you," Tim said and it was obvious he was completely serious. "You know that you deserve to be with someone who's good to you, right?"

"Yeah," Tony nodded and his own smile faded as he regarded McGee. "Don't worry, Steve's amazing. He's very good to me and...and he's very good _for_ me too."

"I'm glad to hear it," Tim said and managed to hold Tony's gaze for a moment longer before taking another sip of his drink and looking away.

"What about you, McGeek?" Tony asked, "Have you and Abby stopped dancing around each other yet?"

Blood immediately rushed to Tim's face, and his eyes swivelled back towards Tony, wide and embarrassed.

"We aren't...we're not..." he spluttered and Tony laughed, green eyes dancing as Tim lapsed into a slightly sullen silence

"Relax McGeek," Tony grinned. "I'm sure she'll come around eventually."

"You think so?" McGee glanced over to where Abby was chasing Grace through the shallow waters of the private beach.

"I know so," Tony's smile softened around the edges. "Just give her time."

~O

Gibbs grimaced as he took a sip from his styrofoam cup of coffee only to get a mouthful of cold liquid. He dumped the cup in a trashcan and pulled his baseball cap further down over his head, hunching his shoulders as he lurked outside the dry cleaners that was almost directly across from DiNozzo's apartment.

He'd stayed in Hawaii and woken early enough to trail Abby, Ziva and McGee this morning, hoping they'd lead him to Tony and they had. Gibbs had watched as they had spoken to the guard at the gate for a short time, Ziva and McGee pulling out their badges, before he let them in. It didn't surprise Gibbs that Tony lived in a secure complex. In fact, what was more surprising was that Tony's apartment in DC had been as open and easy to break into as it was.

About an hour ago, Gibbs had seen Tony leave with McGarrett along with Abby, Ziva and McGee and since then Gibbs had lingered, debating whether or not he should break into Tony's apartment. It had been two months since Tony had moved to Hawaii but it had been much, much longer since Gibbs had been able to look his SFA in the eye and ask him how he was doing. For ten years, Tony had been by Gibbs' side, a constant and loud presence that was both unmovable and irreplacable.

It would shock, well it would shock anyone to hear that Gibbs felt this way because he'd done a darn good job of convincing the world that he really was a bastard. He had his reasons of course, and they were damned good ones, but that didn't change the fact that he missed Tony. He missed the smiles and laughter and intuition and loyalty that Tony gave, as free and ready as air. He missed seeing the sharp suits around the office and, since he'd had to keep up the pretense even after Tony had transferred, he missed the camaraderie the MCRT had shared before Tony'd left.

Still, this whole situation was Gibbs' problem and he was determined to solve it without involving his team. The important thing was that Tony was as out of harms way as he was going to get. DiNozzo even had his Navy SEAL boyfriend looking out for him, Gibbs would probably die before admitting this out loud, but McGarrett was good for Tony and, from what Gibbs' old military buddies had found when Gibbs asked them to poke around, Steve McGarrett was as competent and deadly as they came.

That was good. It was very, very good that Tony had someone like Steve on his side because if Cosenza ever found out that Tony was here and that Gibbs was still keeping tabs on him, Tony would need an entire SEAL team at his back to protect him from the fallout.

~O

It was mid-afternoon, the sun high in the sky and Chin was teaching McGee the finer points of a Hawaiian barbeque, when Steve realised he hadn't seen Tony in a while. His brow furrowed as he surveyed the scene, Grace was still frolicking in the surf, this time with Danny alongside her, his pants rolled up to the knees whilst Ziva and Abby looked on from where they were reclining on beach towels. Chin and McGee were completely engrossed in the barbeque and Kono, like Tony, was nowhere to be found.

So Steve pushed himself to his feet and gathered the empty beer bottles that littered the area, using them as an excuse to duck inside. The kitchen was deserted but Kono was in the living room, raiding Steve's CD collection.

"You have like, no music Boss," she complained when Steve poked his head through the door but he merely shrugged, unrepentant, and decided to check for Tony upstairs.

He found him in Steve's room finishing a phone conversation.

"No problem, Dan," Tony was saying as Steve stepped into the room. "Thanks for trying."

"Problems?" Steve raised both eyebrows and leaned against the doorway as Tony pocketed his phone.

"Maybe," Tony shrugged and looked out the window instead of at Steve. "Actually I'm pretty sure there is, I just don't know how to find out what's going on."

"This have to do with Gibbs," Steve frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "He causing trouble?"

"Not in the way you're thinking," Tony smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "I think he's being blackmailed."

"By whom?" Steve asked, in full five-0 mode now.

"I don't know," Tony shrugged. "The list of people who mean Gibbs harm is long, very long and he's too familiar with the way the team thinks for them to be able to find out more. Anyone who hasn't worked with Gibbs will have even less of a chance to dig into his stuff."

"What about the guys in LA? Could they hack Gibbs' computer?" Steve asked.

"Probably," Tony replied. "If Gibbs used a computer that is. But, you know," Tony's face lit up with an idea as he turned to face Steve once more. "Your pal Hanna, Gibbs is friends with his partner, Callum?"

"Yeah?" the corners of Steve's lips curved upwards a little. "I guess I should give Hanna a call then."

"I don't know how much help that would do either," Tony admitted. "What I'd really need is a log of calls made to Gibbs' phone in the four months before I transferred. Knowing if Gibbs got anything in the mail would help as well but getting our hands on that would be almost impossible since he'd probably keep it in his safe at home."

"Why are you so eager to look into this now?" Steve asked, genuinely confused. "I thought you wanted this guy out of your life, the sooner the better."

"Yeah but I just found out that this about turn in Gibbs' attitude didn't just apply to me," Tony's eyes were serious and more than a little concerned when they met Steve's. He's been acting extremely out of character to McGee and Ziva and even Abby. Abby is like a daughter to Gibbs, he adores her. Wouldn't you be concerned if Danny suddenly started acting resentful towards Grace?"

"It's not the same..." Steve started to say but Tony interrupted him.

"Trust me," Tony grimaced, "it's exactly the same. Gibbs would move heaven and earth for Abby. If he's being cruel to her as well then something is seriously, seriously wrong."

"How wrong are we talking?" Steve was growing increasingly alarmed by the minute.

"Let's just say that I don't doubt Gibbs was relieved I transferred here," Tony said. "But I'm starting to think that it's not because he woke up one morning and couldn't stand the sight of me."

"Okay," Steve said and turned to get his tablet from beside the bed. "I already had Chin hack his phone records when you told be about this guy. I can access them from here."

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" Tony quipped, lips curving into a smile as he sat down beside Steve.

Steve smiled at him, heavily lidded eyes lightened with affection and he draped an arm around Tony's shoulder letting Tony hold the tablet between them as Steve used his free hand to navigate. Within moments he had pulled up Gibbs phone records and the men sat with their heads bent together, frowns furrowing both their brows as they perused the data. Long, quiet moments passed this way before Tony spoke, his finger resting on a name and number that caught his eye.

"Here," Tony said, "Reginald Kane, I think I know this guy."

"You do," Steve raised both his brows in question.

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "Leonard Kane was enlisted in the Marine Corp but was using the army to traffic drugs. One of his regiment found him out but before the guy could tell what he knew, Leonard had had the guy's entire family killed, even his six year old daughter."

"And Gibbs worked the case?" Steve confirmed.

"Yeah, the guy that committed the murders was relatively easy to find but once he was in interrogation Gibbs realised that he couldn't have been working alone. So we worked the case until we had tracked everything back to Leonard Kane. We knew he had a brother but Reginald lived in New York and hadn't had contact with Leonard for years so, you know," Tony shrugged, "We figured ties there had already been cut."

"So, what," Steve's frown deepened. "You think the brother's back looking for revenge?"

"Is it so unlikely?" Tony countered. "I once got set up because I pointed out that one of our lab tech's in Baltimore had contaminated a blood sample. That guy got fired but then blamed another lab and _that_ guy got fired and decided I was at fault and framed me for murder."

Steve's mouth opened and then closed again before twisting into a half-smirk.

"You gotta tell me that story sometime," he said, letting his hand curl briefly around Tony's shoulder before rising from the bed. "Right now we're gonna relax. Tomorrow we can look more into this Kane guy."

"Whatever you say, Commander," Tony smiled and stood as well, glancing up at Steve as he brushed past him.

Steve merely grinned, not taking the bait and slinging his arm around Tony once more as they made their way back downstairs. Everyone was pretty much where Steve had left them except that Kono had unearthed one of Steve's older, smaller boards and was teaching Ziva the basics of surfing. Abby was lathering on what had to be her fiftieth layer of sunblock and McGee and Chin were still standing over the barbeque, turning the tuna steaks.

"Hey, when did you guys get here?" Tony blinked as he noticed Sachs and Rob standing next to Chin. "Don't I see enough of you at work?"

"Danno wanted pizza," it was Grace who spoke, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet and beaming at Danny who was rolling his eyes in mock exasperation.

"Why you gotta go and rat on me, monkey," Danny complained but it was without any heat and completely belied by the fact that he ruffled Grace's hair and smiled down at her before shrugging at the look Steve gave him.

"What can I say?" Danny replied in response to the silent question, "I got hungry."

"So you couldn't call for your own pizza?" Tony raised both eyebrows. "My team is not your personal pizza delivery service Williams."

"You sure about that?" Danny grinned. "Because they sure do seem to always be carrying boxes of the stuff."

"Tony," it was McGee who spoke. "Please tell me you don't have two Federal Agents groomed to bring pizza at your beck and call."

"That would imply that the boss ate other things during the course of the day or week," Sachs rolled her eyes. "He seems to live off of this stuff for breakfast, lunch and supper."

"Nothing wrong with that," Danny replied, not even glancing at the rest of them since he was helping Grace re-lace her board shorts.

Ziva, McGee and Abby got these identical looks on their faces that seemed to say 'not two of them!' and Tony couldn't help himself, he burst into laughter.

~O

Gibbs looked around the apartment with uncontained curiosity. There was nobody there to witness it after all. A glance into the kitchen cabinets revealed them to be well stocked, with oats and wheatgerm stacked neatly beside Tony's preffered brand of coloured suger. There was fresh vegetables and meat in the fridge and even a small pantry with fruit and other veg, like tomatoes, onions and squash, obvious signs of McGarrett's influence.

In the TV room Tony's extensive DVD and CD collection was hidden behind cupborads beneath the widescreen television to avoid cluttering the relatively small space. There were a few photo frames on the shelves, one of the entire MCRT from before Tony transferred and one of Kate. Gibbs immediately turned away from those, focusing instead on the photo of McGarrett. It was taken outdoors, in some sort of forest and McGarrett was grinning at the camera, a backpack slung over his shoulders and a canteen of water around his neck.

Gibbs didn't think Tony would have a photo on his shelf that didn't have some sort of sentimental value so he must have taken the picture himself. Which meant that he'd been out in the forest with McGarrett. Gibbs didn't bother to reign in his sigh and his shoulders slumped a little. The Tony DiNozzo he remembered hated hiking or camping but then the Tony DiNozzo he remembered had been playing second fiddle for far to long. The promotion had obviously done Tony good. It was unsurprising that Sachs and Worthington adored him, and it was equally unsurprising that Tony had found someone special, someone for the long term.

People flocked to DiNozzo like bees to honey. It was the sort of charisma neither McGee nor Ziva possessed and it was also something the MCRT was sorely missing since Tony's transfer. It took just that little bit longer to break suspects, just a little more work to get victims and their families to open up. It just took a little more work. Gibbs hadn't filled Tony's position yet, mostly because he doubted he'd meet anyone else quite like Tony and partly because he wanted to resolve the problems that had caused him to split up the team in the first place.

Cosenza was smart and he was organised and he had already proven that he would not stop until Gibbs had lost everyone dear to him. Photo's of Tony at work, out shopping, running and even photos of Tony sleeping had cropped up on Gibbs desk every single day for months until the day Tony had left DC. Ordinarily Gibbs would have had hounded Cosenza, tracked his every move until he caught the son of a bitch doing something illegal so he could let his ass rot in prison. Unfortunately Cosenza wasn't the head of one of DCs biggest mafia families for no reason. He left no trace of what he was doing and Gibbs couldn't connect anything to him or even his henchman.

He could have told the rest of his team what was happening of course but this had been decades in the making. Cosenza's younger brother had been on Gibbs' squad and had died while the team had been deployed to Iraq. Cosenza held Gibbs responsible and now, decades later, was exacting his revenge. Telling Tony, Ziva or McGee what was happening, bringing them into the loop, was only going to endanger them further and Gibbs would rather be enstranged from his team and have them safe than put them through any unnecessary danger.

So he wandered around Tony's apartment like a ghost, taking in everything that had changed and those habits that hadn't since Tony moved to Hawaii. He still hid a spare gun beneath his couch and one in the bathroom. He still kept his safe in the bedroom and the code was still the day he started working at NCIS. The orderly state of his laundry basket was new as was the hiking boots next to his running shoes. But then, there was already ample evidence that McGarrett took Tony's health seriously.

Something in Gibbs' stomach loosened as he left the apartment and made his way back to his hotel. There was a DiNozzo shaped hole in Gibbs' life that would probably never be filled but Tony was healthy and happy and surrounded by people who would keep him that way. That was enough for Gibbs.

~O

Monday morning dawned bright and warm as befitting the island. When Sach got to work she found that Tony was already there. While that wasn't at all unusual, it _was_ surprising to see Steve there as well, bent over Tony's computer.

"We got a case, boss?" Sach asked, dropping her bag next to her chair and moving towards them.

"Not as such," Tony said as he glanced up and smiled a greeting. "You wouldn't happen to have any contacts in New York would you?"

By the tone of his voice it was obvious Tony was joking but Sach's frown deepened and she nodded.

"Yeah, a friend from college works in the Department of Foreign Affairs. Why, what do you need?"

Steve and Tony exchange a glance, their surprise blatant, before Tony replies,

"Do you think they'd be able to get some information from NYPD for us? We're looking into a

guy called Reginald Kane."

"Okay," Sachs said and picked up her phone. "I'll get right on it."

Sally-Anne Cherish, it turned out, was more than just a southern belle who was incredibly handy with a gun. Her friend mailed Kane's rapsheet over within the hour, a list of offensives that was as extensive as could be expected but still provided no information that they could use. All they had was one 3 minute phone call that was made a few months before Tony transferred to Hawaii.

"So, what do you want to do?" Steve asked, leaning against Tony's desk and crossing his arms over his chest.

"The only thing I can do," Tony smiled but it was without humour. "Go straight to the source."

So that was how Tony ended up knocking on Gibbs hotel room door that evening, heart pounding and wishing he'd let Steve accompany him. The door swung open almost before Tony had finished knocking and he found himself staring at Gibbs, hand still raised.

"What do you want DiNozzo?" Gibbs growled and even with what Tony suspected, it sounded more like 'pissed off' than 'I'm being blackmailed but don't want to tell you'.

"Gibbs," Tony fought to keep his voice even. "You got a minute."

"No," Gibbs started to close the door but Tony smoothly slid forward, jamming the door with his shoulder and determination thinning his lips.

"It's important," Tony insisted and Gibbs' glare intensified before he scowled and turned away, walking into the room and leaving Tony to follow.

"So here's the thing," Tony began, getting straight to the point, "I don't have any proof but I think you're being blackmailed." He paused for a moment and glanced at Gibbs only to find his expression typically inscrutable

"I think someone called Reginald Kane has something on you that's so bad you'd rather have Abby thinking you hate her than tell us what's going on."

"I don't know you the hell you're talking about," Gibbs scowled. "So stop wasting my time and get the hell out of my room."

"Okay," Tony shrugged, easy and casual after a moment's contemplation. "I'll just keep digging then. Five-0's got great resources and Steve's contacts are even better than yours. I'm sure we'll figure it out before long."

He turned to leave and had opened the door before Gibbs' soft but vehement curse reached his ears and the older man was calling for him to wait.

"What do you want from me, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked and, in that moment, he looked so exhausted and Tony felt all the tension he'd been carrying since Gibbs had arrived on Oahu drain out of him.

"I just want the truth, Boss," he said, soft and sincere and maybe it was that tone of voice, or maybe it was hearing the salutation from Tony's lips for the first time in months but Gibbs sighed and nodded once before gesturing to the bed.

"You might as well sit down, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "This could take a while."

~O

There were few things Sally Anne Cherish was certain of in life. That it was short was one of them, that it was upredictable was another and that, for all the darkness and evil in the world, there existed light and good was a third.

Moving to Hawai'i had only reinforced that last belief. Working in law enforcement often meant that you were exposed to the depravity and cruelty of human nature more often than anyone would like. It was a difficult but rewarding job and when Sachs had first met Tony it had only become more so. Both difficult and rewarding that is. She'd worked with a lot of people, with a lot of different teams and another thing that she was certain of was that federal agencies were inherently chauvansitic. Most men either tried to hide it or were unaware of the little things they did or said that showed such inner prejudices but it didn't change the factthat working at the higher levels of law enforcement was definitely considered by most men to be a 'man's job'.

Sachs could defend herself with the best of them. She didn't take anyones bullshit but she also knew how to pick her battles. After all these years, she'd come to accept that she had to work three times as hard as her male colleagues to get the same recognition. It was just the way things were and Sachs was practical enough not to waste her time on a one-woman crusade that was, at best, futile.

That wasn't to say that _all_ the men she worked with were dogs. Some of them had complete and total respect for her skills and competency and didn't let her gender enter the equation. Tony, for instance, was an excellent example of someone that lived and breathed gender equality. The same could be said for Steve but he tended to sometimes let his protective instincts overrule his better judgement. Between Kono and Sachs he was soon made to see the error of his ways.

Gibbs, well Sachs hadn't really spent a lot of time with Tony's former boss but, from what she had seen (and heard), Gibbs was had surprisingly modern views on women in the workplace considering his rather...bullish personality. Sachs didn't know what had happened between and his old boss but, judging from the way Tony had been unflappingly polite, it had been bad.

So when Tony walked into work one day with Gibbs on his heel, Sachs almost did a double take. When Tony grinned and clapped Gibbs on the back she _did_ do a double take. To be fair, Kono had the exact same reaction when Tony hearded them all together and drove to Five-0 headquarters.

"When did we fly to the Twilight Zone?" Kono leant towards Sachs to whisper in her ear as they watched Gibbs smirk at something Tony said, causing Tony to laugh.

"What else explains this," Sachs murmured in drastic reversal in Gibbs and Tony's attitued to one another was making her head spin.

Then Tony and Gibbs were disappearing into Steve's office and the rest of them were left to wonder what the hell was going on.

Steve, for his part, listened to what Tony had to say with the utmost patience. He didn't miss the way Gibbs' jaw tensed, silent proof that the older man didn't want to be there. Nor did he miss the way Tony had placed a brief but reassuring hand on Gibbs shoulder as they'd walked into Steve's the whole picture emerged, the manner in which Gibbs had been targeted making itself known, Tony slowly began to understand Tony's newfound tolerance for his old boss.

Gibbs was still an asshole for letting some mafia lowlife get to him to the extent where he'd practically driven his entire team away _but_ he was an asshole who rather his team hated him than expose them to any real danger (over and above the line of duty that is) and Steve could get with that. Kind of. So he made the effort to be nice to Gibbs. Well perhaps nice wasn't the right word. It was more like Steve made the effort not to slug him whenever the bastard showed his face. Whatever his reasons, it was because of Gibbs that Tony's eyes sometimes seemed too old for his face. Steve had served with men, with fucking SEALS, that looked less world weary than Tony often did.

So when they got home that night Steve made a point of pushing Tony against the wall and mouthing at his neck.

"Oh, hello," Tony breathed, letting his head fall back to expose more of his neck to Steve's exploration. "Eager are we?"

Steve didn't bother verbalising an answer, instead he made quick work of unbuttoning Tony's jeans so he could slide his hands under denim and cotton and grab Tony's ass. Tony laughed, a husky and hungry sound and proved that he sometimes had the ability to read Steve's mind by first unbuttoning his shirt then kicking of his shoes. Steve pushed Tony's jeans and boxers down then, when Tony reached for him, grabbed the older man's wrists and used one hand to pin them above Tony's hands.

With his other hand he tracked the crack of Tony's ass and delighted in the low moan it elicited from his lover. Squeezing Tony's wrists in a silent request for him to keep them where they were, Steve set about on his self appointed mission to get Tony as loose and languid and sated as possible. Tony's active lifestyle meant that he had a very high metabolism and with that came other sorts of benefits. While neither of them were teenagers anymore, both Steve and Tony still had refractory periods that made sex pretty damn amazing.

Steve swept his hands up Tony's torso, thumbs brushing over Tony's hipbones, abs and nipples, eliciting a delightful arch and a shaky exhale of breath. So Steve did it again. Never one to be completely passive, Tony circumvented the lack of use of his hands by hooking a leg over Steve's hip and pulling him close. Steve left the mark he'd been biting onto Tony's collarbone and met the thrust of Tony's hips with his own, smirking when the feeling of his already hard dick rubbing against denim caused Tony to swear.

In retaliation Tony bit down hard on his lower lip and chewed gently on it before letting it go, letting his tongue come out to soothe the sting and leave his lip swollen and red and wet. Steve couldn't help himself. He immediately claimed Tony's mouth in a kiss, parting his lips and sweeping his tongue against Tony's own. He kept the kiss deliberate and thorough but not forceful, wanting to draw this out for as long as possible.

"Steve," Tony sighed and pushed his hips harder against Steve's in an unmistakable request.

Steve merely smiled against the corner of Tony's mouth and kept rocking his hips to a slow, steady rhythm. One hand was keeping Tony's leg braced against his hip and the other was against the wall and, as inspiration hit, Steve grabbed a hold of Tony's other thigh and hiosted it up. The sudden change in position caused Tony to swear and he draped his arms around Steve's neck in reflex to keep himself balanced. Steve merely buried his face his Tony's neck and lapped at skin there, tasting the salt of perspiration and something undefinable that was uniquely Tony. His arms were braced along Tony's thighs, thumbs digging into hard muscle and fingers gripping Tony's ass cheeks hard enough that Steve was sure there would be bruises there tomorrow.

The thought sent a thrill of possessive delight down Steve's spine and he rocked his hips harder against Tony's. Breathing against the veins of Tony's neck when the older man's head fell back, pleasure that the increased pressure against his erection tearing a groan from his throat. He could make Tony come like this, Steve realised, without even touching his lover's dick. Steve was still full clothed, although he had lost his shoes at some point and his belt was partially unbuckled, while Tony was completely naked.

Lifting his head, Steve straightened and greedily took in the sight Tony made. With his head thrown back, the strong lines of Tony's throat bled into broad shoulders and an equally strong chest that was heaving with the effort with each gasping, panting breath. The hair on Tony's chest was a dark, damp trail leading to where his dick was pressing against the tented denim of Steve's jeans. The runny, translucent precum leaking from of the swollen red head of Tony's dick wasn't the only reason the front of Steve's jeans were damp and he gritted his teeth, trying to hold back his orgasm from sheer willpower alone. It mostly worked but only because the way Tony was pulling at Steve's hair said that he was also pretty close to the edge. Plus Steve had bigger plans for tonight than just a bit of frottage. That wouldn't be happening though if things continued like this for much longer.

"C'mon Tony," Steve urged, his voice a rough husk of it's usual even tones. "cum for me. Just like this. I never want to be able to look at these jeans again without remembering how your cum looked streaked all over them."

Leaning forward to whisper in his lover's ear, Steve let his voice drop an octave or two.

"Cum for me, so I can lick you clean then fuck another orgasm out of you."

The imagery seemed to do the trick because the next moment found Tony shuddering to a climax in Steve's arms and thick, pearly streaks of cum being painted across his abs and Steve's jeans. The muscles in Steve's arms were protesting against being used to support the weight of a grown man for so long so Steve released Tony's legs, something akin to pride curling his lips when Tony's legs threatened to buckle upon touching the ground.

Basic biology didn't allow him to waste too much time however and Steve quickly stripped before maneuvering Tony (who was still pretty out of it), onto his stomach. Making a quick trip to the sofa for a cushion, Steve pushed it beneath Tony's abs to prop him up. Straddling Tony's thighs, Steve got to work preparing his lover, pushing a finger into his entrance as he bent to bite at Tony's ass cheek. Steve was up to his second finger and was using his tongue to speed up the process when Tony started responding to him once more, pushing back onto Steve's fingers as tiny mewls of pleasure escaped his lips. Reaching down to squeeze just below the head of his cock, straving of his orgasm for a little longer, Steve lapped and sucked and fingered the puckered entrance presented so temptingly before him. He pushed Tony's legs apart, rolling his lover's balls in his hand and squeezing gently.

The teasing continued in this manner for as long as Steve could bear it and, given Steve's rather impressive self control, that meant that by the Steve was pulling Tony onto his knees, the older man was a panting, sweating, pliable _mess_. Tony rested his face of the cushion, unable to summon up the energy to support himself on his arms and let out a tired but needy moan as Steve brushed the head of his cock against Tony's entrance.

Then Steve was gripping Tony's hips and pushing in, keeping his eyes open so he could properly appreciate the severe, wanton, slutty curve Tony's back made as it rose from the floor to melt into Tony's ass and meet Steve's hips. Biting his lips and rocking his hips, Steve let his hands roam over Tony's shoulder blades, the knobs on his spine, he brushed his thumbs against the two dimples just above Tony's ass then he gripped Tony's hips onve more and _moved. _

The sound of flesh slapping against flesh filled the apartment, along with the broken and incoherent gibberish spilling from Tony's lips. Steve's own breathing was harsh and heavy and his eyes grew dark and heavy lidded and he kept pushing into tight heat. He was far too gone to last long, the eager way Tony met his thrusts even whilst completely buggered and fucked out going a long way into bringing Steve over the edge. He buried himself balls deep in his lover and groaned as Tony tightened around him, milking his dick.

They collapsed in a sweaty, sated tangle of limbs onto the floor, too blissed out to care about their surroundings. As Tony pulled Steve onto his chest, stroking his finger's through Steve's hair, Steve sighed and pressed and kiss to Tony's sternum. He couldn't help but think that although they were only halfway to solving Gibb's situation (Consenza was an intelligent and paranoid bastard and it was going to be a while before they had anything concrete on him), things between Tony and his old team were much improved and he had even made up with Gibbs a bit.

The kind of hurt that had caused Tony to transfer all the way to Hawai'i wouldn't be easily soothed but at least now Tony knew that he wasn't unappreciated by his old boss, far from it actually. Steve, well he didn't care what the hell Gibbs did next. Tony was his now and nothing, not even some grumpy ex-marine was going to change that.


End file.
